A royal history lesson - the whole
line covers Norman and Plantagenet kings of England from William the
Conqueror to the Black Prince's son Richard II (1367 - 1377 - 1399
(32)), the last Plantagenet King. Then comes the crosier holding
St Chad over the centre door, then a matching array of (pre-Norman)
Kings of Mercia,
including King Offa (780s), digger of
the dyke designed to welsh-proof Mercia, who also briefly caused
Lichfield to have an archbishop (presumably why he holds a mitre). The selection shown above goes
from the nasty Richard I to Chad and one of the Mercian Kings.
Henry III (1207-1216-1272
(65)) is the one holding the church model. Paradox's guess is that
these figures are the product of a Victorian workshop as they are too
unweathered to be earlier.

Charles II of England (1630-1660-1685
(55)), with a canine weathered face, stands by the main South Door.
He donated both money and timber for the rebuilding of the cathedral,
which had been more severely Cromwelled than most, mainly because it
became a fought-over defensive structure. Stained glass, stonework, the
central spire and much roofing went. Charles' money was not enough
to repair the damage properly, and it was only in Victorian times that
this got done. Thisstatue of King Charles used
to be where St Chad now stands on the west facade.

If the
exterior proportionality and look of Lichfield Cathedral leave a bit to
be desired, there are no reservations about the magnificent interior
nave vistas, which also score big bonus points for not having an heavy
screen and organ
cluttering up the vista.

Chapter House for Dean and
Canons rather than Abbot and Monks

Memorial to Lt William
Hodson of "Hodson's Horse"

The last Mughal Emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar II (1775 - 1862 (87)), was
hunted down in Humayun's Tomb (Delhi) and taken prisoner by a
certain Lieutenant Hodson following the Indian Mutiny in 1857, a prelude
to direct rule of India by the British from 1858.

Hodson was the son of an
Archdeacon of Lichfield. After
public school, Cambridge University and the Grenadier Guards he was
tasked with raising and operating an irregular cavalry unit which became
known as
Hodson's Horse. He was killed and buried at Lucknow
in 1858, just a year after capturing Zafar.

Monuments to dad Hodson and Major
William Hodson of Hodson's Horse were
later put up in the south choir aisle of Lichfield Cathedral. This
tableau illustrates Lt Hodson accepting the surrendered sword of "the
King of Delhi".

The
Lichfield Angel

Based on a photo by "Iskra"
in Picasa

The "Lichfield Angel",
just possibly part of the St Chad shrine, possibly an archangel,
certainly painted, dates from the
700s and was discovered buried under the cathedral nave in 2003.
It is now on display in the cathedral.

The Lichfield Gospels date
from the early 700s. The work has 236 folios (pages) - 8 of which
are illuminated. The pages contain the Gospels of Matthew and Mark
and the early part of the Gospel of Luke. A second book
disappeared at the time of Cromwell.